Skunk Beer. If you’ve never been unfortunate enough to have had skunk beer, count yourself lucky. If you have, then you know what the British were dealing with in the early 1700’s trying to get beer south around the west of Africa, across the equator, around the Cape of Good Hope, and then back north across the Indian Ocean to the British soldiers and citizens there demanding beer in Bombay, Calcutta, and Madras. Extreme temperature changes, and long, hot storage conditions cause beer to go bad- real bad. So, in the face of such pre-refrigeration conditions, the British brewers set to work with what tools they had- namely more alcohol and more hops. Alcohol is obvious, but hops are extremely astringent and are added as an antibiotic and stabilizing agent.

George Hodgson from the Bow Brewery in East London finally came to a solution by taking his Pale Ale recipe and considerably increasing the hop and alcohol content. The result was a bitter, very alcoholic Ale that survived the trip to India and was actually drinkable at the end of the trip. Hodgson became a legend.

At about the same time, similar conditions afflicted the trade of Beer to Russia, and a similar solution was found, only this IPA stood for “Imperial Pale Ale”. Soon enough, political conditions ceased trade with Russia, and most “Imperial” brewers simply switched markets to India, making the “IPA” acronym synonymous for either brew.

Eventually, breweries opened up in Asia, and ultimately refrigeration and modern storage removed the need for the extra kick and hops, but the brew still has a following, because some people simply like the taste! Even in its heyday IPA’s rarely went above 8% ABV, and today’s popular IPA’s are less than that, usually between 5-7% ABV.

Popularity: 13% [?]

Bock is the German term for strong beer. The primary characteristics of bock are:

• Relatively high in alcohol content. In Germany the alcohol by volume (ABV) is more than 6.25%.
• It is a lager.
• Often dark in color but can be golden to dark brown.
• Malty with low hops bitterness.

Random facts about lager:

• The word bock is a corruption of Einbeck, the town in Germany in which bock has its roots.
• Bock literally means “goat” in German. Many bock labels feature goats.
• Traditionally brewed for special occasions, such as Christmas, during autumn, winter, and spring.
• It’s a favorite of Roman Catholic monks in Germany.

There are several different kinds of bock:

• Traditional
• Maibock -A pale version of traditional bock.
• Dopplebock (double bock) - Bavarian specialty beer that was first brewed by the monks of St. Francis of Paula. Traditionally it was sweeter and lower in alcohol but isn’t necessarily true in modern dopplebocks.
• Eisbock - Made by freeze distilling a doppelbock and removing the ice to concentrate the flavor and alcohol content.

Here is a nice diagram of all beer types arranged in a sort of family tree. Michael Jackson also has a decent beer styles section on his Beer Hunter site.

Beer 101 is an ongoing series intended to help the average beer drinker learn more about the mystical beverage we call beer. If there is a topic you would like covered in Beer 101, leave a comment, visit the contact page.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Lambic is a unique style of beer produced only in a small region in Belgium. The primary characteristics of lamic are:

• Yeast is not added directly to the wort. The vats are left open and wild yeast, which is unique the region, is allowed to fall into the vats naturally. This process is called spontaneous fermentation.
• It is typically very dry with a sour aftertaste.
• A mixture of wheat and barley is used in the wort.

Random facts about lager:

• It is only brewed in the Senne Valley region of Belgium.
• Most lambics are a blend of an one-year-old and two- to three-year-old lambic. This helps preserve a brewer’s distinctive flavor from year to year.
• The name “lambic” comes from “Lembeek,” which is a town near Brussels.

There are several different kinds of lambic:

• Lambic (pure) - Unblended lambic is a cloudy, uncarbonated, bracingly sour beverage available on tap in only a few locations. Generally three years old. A bottled offering from Cantillon named Grand Cru Bruocsella can be found outside of Belgium.
• Gueuze -A mixture of young (one-year) and old (two and three-year) lambics which has been bottled. It undergoes secondary fermentation, producing carbonation, because the young lambics are not yet fully fermented.
• Mars - Traditionally referred to a weaker beer made from the second runnings of a lambic brewing. It is no longer commercially produced.
• Faro - A low-alcohol, slightly sweet table beer made from lambic to which brown sugar has been added. It is an unblended three-year-old lambic and is usually sold on tap.
• Fruit -Lambic with the addition of either whole fruit or fruit syrup.

Here is a nice diagram of all beer types arranged in a sort of family tree. Michael Jackson also has a decent beer styles section on his Beer Hunter site.

Beer 101 is an ongoing series intended to help the average beer drinker learn more about the mystical beverage we call beer. If there is a topic you would like covered in Beer 101, leave a comment, visit the contact page.

Popularity: 8% [?]

Ale is one of the two major styles of beer, the other being lager. The primary characteristics of ale are:

• It is top fermented, meaning the yeast floats on the top of the wort in the fermenter rather than settling to the bottom.
• It is fermented at warmer temperatures, generally above 60°F.
• It is the oldest form of beer.
• Ale is typically fruitier and more full-bodied than lager.

Random facts about lager:

• In some American states is the term determined by law (wrongly) to indicate a brew of more than 4 percent weight (5 by volume).
• The word ‘ale’ comes from the Old English ealu, in turn from the Proto-Indo-European base *alut-, which holds connotations of “sorcery, magic, possession, intoxication.”

There are many different kinds of ale:

• Pale ale
• Dark ale
• Brown ale
• Light ale
• Irish red
• Belgian
• German
• Scotch
• Old ale
• Cream ale

Here is a nice diagram of all beer types arranged in a sort of family tree. Michael Jackson also has a decent beer styles section on his Beer Hunter site.

Beer 101 is an ongoing series intended to help the average beer drinker learn more about the mystical beverage we call beer. If there is a topic you would like covered in Beer 101, leave a comment, visit the contact page.

Popularity: 9% [?]